When trying to streamline your life, many start with possessions. It is not the goal in itself, but a means to commence the goal and get on the path of meaningfulness. This is true for me as I am especially affected by my surroundings. It is a weird catch 22 as I enjoy beautiful things, but I also crave simplicity. How then do we reconcile this? The solution is easy: keep only the things that are useful and beautiful. However, that solution is not so easy when we think of it in terms of the mental steps to get there. For instance, what if you are a person like me, who likes to see beauty in almost everything. I sometimes look at winter tree branches, all grey and bare, but I see such beauty in their form and texture. I have always been this way, so it is innate in me. I have come to realize that this is a great quality to have in appreciating art and nature, and even life experiences. However, it sometime gets in the way of my simplifying and de-cluttering. Combine that with my highly analytical mind, and I am sometimes my own obstacle. For instance, I don't keep things that are in terrible condition, but I will sometimes cut a piece of a garment and turn it into another garment. So, sometimes, if an article is damaged, I still see possibility for it, and it has resulted in my having a lot of scrap material for sewing, even though I declutter my stash annually. I sometimes think when an item is not top rate anymore that thrift stores won't sell it, and it will just end up in the landfill, when I could just reconstruct it into a new garment.
The problem is that sewing is very time consuming, and I don't have a lot of time these days. The time that I take to make a new garment out of old ones can take hours, and I could've worked during those hours and made more money. So, I can't use the reason that I am keeping it so I won't waste money. I have also learned that it is futile to lament over money already spent and time lost time earning money that money. Then, there is the mental anguish in seeing so many items, and more time is also wasted taking care of the possessions, such as organizing them, cleaning them, and moving them when you move to a new apartment or home. The time it takes to Ebay them is not always beneficial. For instance, I sold a pair of boots recently that I purchased for $45, but sold only for $9.99 (not including shipping, although Ebay's fees consider shipping also). After Ebay fees, I only earned $8. However, it took me 20 minutes to take pictures, load on my computer and post a description. Then, I am sure that I spent about 35- 40 minutes total responding to buyer questions and checking periodically how it is doing. Then, packaging to ship, printing and taping postage, and taking it to the post office took about another 20 minutes. So, in all I would say, I spent about a minimum of 1 hour and 15 minutes to half to earn $8. If I was working, due to the fact that I have several years experience in the field, I would have made double that amount. I think that hour and a half would have been more well spent job hunting or studying for my graduate school exam. So, donating would seem to bring the highest return for my time.
I read this wonderful post that mentioned that one way to let go is to think about another person enjoying the object that you enjoy. This really struck a chord with me as the reason that I don't want to let go of some items is because they are in new or like new condition, and I still think they are lovely items. I just don't use them because they do not fit my lifestyle.
Along the lines of time vs money that I was just writing about, the joy that someone else can get out of an item is a comparative advantage to the time I spend trying to sell it and the money earned from that.
Thinking about letting go gives me immense respect for monks and yogis who abandon possessions so easily and quickly to live a monastic life. I have let go of many things in the past, and lived very simply before, but I still hesitate at times to let go at time due to living in the past and the future. I think the biggest secret to letting go is to practice living in the present. As the winter season is ending, think about what you did not use, and donate them. In the coming spring season, think about what you will actually use, and donate the rest. Someone else will be able to enjoy it, and once you let go, you will will feel even more free as you have less. In the initial letting go, I feel a little clinging and fear, but with every item that I let go, I feel the chains of the control of possessions loosen on me. Time and freedom are life's most valuable gifts.
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